When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

                                                             

 Title: When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill

Genre: Fantasy

Synopsis: 

"Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve." - Back Cover 

My Thoughts

I won this book from the publisher, Doubleday Books, in an Instagram contest, and it would not have been a title that I would normally have chosen off the shelf myself.  I found it a little slow to start and it took some time for me to grasp where it was going. 

Overall, I liked the idea of repressed 1950s women becoming dragons in order to live their best lives and came to love Alex and Beatrice and their unique relationship as cousins & sisters. It was not my favorite book that I have read recently, but it was interesting to step into a different genre for the first time in a while!

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!

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                                To see more from the author, visit the website linked above